Chew Magna Cricket Club - The continuation of cricket at Chew Court

8 miles outside of Bristol, entering in to the county of Somerset, in to the Chew Valley, on the grounds of Chew Court in the Village of Chew Magna, you will find Chew Magna Cricket Club. A serene and tranquil setting which as you drive past makes you think ‘I wouldn’t mind playing cricket there’. However not all is as idyllic as it may appear as, on and off the field, Chew Magna Cricket Club has struggled in recent years. Almost a decade of promotions and relegations has seen the Club fluctuating throughout the West of England Premier League (WEPL) and more recently the Bristol and District Cricket Association Leagues (B & D). Having experienced back-to-back relegations the previous two seasons, the 1st XI will be playing in B & D Division 1, however, ‘time’ was almost called on cricket at Chew Court midway through the 2019 season.

Cricket was first believed to have been played in Chew Magna as early as 1851 in various locations throughout the village with Cricket being played at Chew Court since the 1930s. Initially, the club played friendlies up until 1975, since which date Chew Magna has entered teams in the Somerset, WEPL and B & D leagues as well as the National Village cup and local knockout competitions. In 2017, Chew Magna were playing their cricket in WEPL Bristol & Somerset, no mean feat, however, as previously mentioned, the club has found itself slipping down the leagues. For any side relegation can decrease morale, see players leaving for clubs in higher leagues and cause a certain amount of tension between members – all symptoms of the relegation hangover. The past two seasons therefore have been a struggle for Chew Magna.

Nevertheless, the club has dug deep and stayed strong with plans for the future starting to be implemented. To talk through these plans longstanding member, Jamie Dawson, gave up his time to talk about the state of play at Chew Magna Cricket Club. Jamie grew up in the village of Chew Magna, and started his involvement with the Cricket Club in that glorious summer of 2005 which saw Andrew Strauss lead England to victory over Australia to obtain the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87. Recruited by Duncan Read, the current President of Chew Magna, who was working on Jamie’s house at the time, he joined Chew Magna Youth Team and has played for the club ever since in one of the XI put forward on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Jamie was interim Chairman for the past 2 years, and now finds himself Captain of the 1st XI for the 2020 season and an active member of the club’s Management Committee. This role in particular will be key in achieving the club’s plans going forward to counter the challenges that Chew Magna and other clubs face.

Unfortunately, as all readers will be aware, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact globally, which has also tremored through to the cricketing world at all levels ahead of the 2020 Season in England. On top of this, as experienced by many cricket clubs nationally, cricket does not appear to be ‘as simple’ as in previous years. Firstly, there appears to be less of an interest by the younger generation willing to give their Saturday’s to their club with other interests being readily available. Given the decrease of players available for selection, the reduction in numbers of potential players to recruit has meant that clubs have lost their youth structures and continue to lose the older generation who retire to the other side of the boundary. This struggle is especially felt by all other clubs akin to Chew Magna, given that there are a high number of village clubs within the small Chew Valley geographical area all searching for playing members to turn out each Saturday to represent the clubs in their respective B & D Leagues. Similarly, the clubs with smaller memberships feel the burden of the financial demands of maintaining the club. The cost of maintaining the ground (and leasing the ground itself in many cases), ensuring playing equipment is surplus and the fees paid for playing in a league can be difficult to cover. The insecurities and uncertainties alluded to are a part of Cricket in its present state and as mentioned are evident throughout the country. However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have been actively working on schemes and ways in which to promote Cricket to all and inspire the next generation. More information can be found on the ECB website: https://www.ecb.co.uk/about-us/our-action-plans.

Behind the scenes, throughout recent struggles, local connections have been capitalised upon between Chew Magna and Stanton Drew (a mile down the road form Chew Court) joining forces to promote cricket in the local area through the rebranding of ‘Chew Valley Cricket’. Together, both clubs have introduced Chew Valley youth teams for both boys and girls and are hoping to amalgamate playing members on a Sunday to form the inaugural Chew Valley Adult XI. Initially playing friendlies in the 2020 season (if there is to be one) the plans are to enter a Sunday league in 2021 and utilise both pitches throughout the season for all the Chew Valley teams. The 2019 season also saw the ‘Chew Valley Cup’ which was entered by four clubs in Chew Valley (Stanton Drew, Blagdon, Temple Cloud and Chew Magna) to further grow the connection between all. It is hoped that the incentive of the ‘Chew Valley Cricket Club’ may gather momentum, gather more interest of playing and non-playing members and widen the interest in cricket whilst capturing a wider audience in Chew Valley and the surrounding area.

Chew Magna are preparing for later in the 2020 season (which we all hope will happen once the COVID-19 situation improves) hoping they will be able to start a new chapter of Cricket at Chew Court with a good group of core players and continue using the Bear and Swan at the end of play on a Saturday. The club are also hoping to see previous individuals involved with the Club returning to help in various ways through; umpiring, scoring, helping to maintain the ground or even coming to the ground to support the teams on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. At a local level, therefore, the challenges are being addressed by Chew Magna and plans appear to be underway for coming seasons in which to continue to attract more players, Men, Women and Youth players alike. Most recently a fundraising incentive has been setup on the club’s social media platforms and has received good support from the cricketing and wider community. Readers can contact the club if they wish to contribute.

Evidently, Chew Magna are hoping to alleviate current concerns in the near future after the pandemic settles and the country returns to a resemblance of normality. For Jamie, and Chew Magna Cricket Club, the hope is that these new concepts will support the club in both the short term, hoping to achieve some stability and ‘steadying the innings’ of the club’s continued history, and the long term; improving connections with the village, seeing an increase in playing and non-playing members and bringing back the not so distant memories of Cricket in better times at Chew Court and the Chew Valley region.